Reno Memo: Fire station brownouts have returned

Two weeks ago, the city of Reno started to temporarily shut down the fire stations on Skyline Boulevard and in the Somerset housing development in order to keep its fire department budget in the black.

The temporary closures, known as brownouts, were a regular consequence of the city's budget cuts throughout the recession. They lasted up until last summer when Reno got a nearly $14 million federal grant to pay for 64 firefighter positions, which was announced last May by a jubilant Reno City Council.

At the time, the news meant the city's fire stations would no longer need to hang a sign on its doors telling people to call 911 for help.

Today, city officials said the return of the brownouts is not surprising.